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I spent both Wednesday and Thursday evenings planting the perennials from Mom. Fun to get, but lots of work to get them in the ground. I have everything planted now except the 2 forsythia bushes, which I am still deciding what to do with.

I started a rhubarb patch near the raspberry area, in a sunny opening in the sumacs. Minding what Mom told me, I made sure to dig a VERY large hole and fill it with compost before placing the transplants. Digging in rocky clay is hard work! I hope they make it.

Today, Saturday, we put the last of the composted manure onto the garden and I turned-over the entire bean and pea area. Ryan pounded the 12 fence posts into place with a sledgehammer. We’re ready!

I weeded the entire rear flower bed and then walked the ENTIRE YARD with the wheelbarrow picking up every single branch. I used a rake for this job under the fruit trees because of the quantity of downed branches from pruning. I think I was picking up branches for almost 2 hours straight. I’m feeling a little tight right now – not unexpected. That was a big job and I’m glad it’s done. Between the two of us working today, the bon fire area is ready for a party because we have over 5 feet of branches stacked and ready to burn!

Ryan then proceeded to mow the entire property for the first time this season. Yay! Took so long the batteries in his headset radio died, but it looks fantastic.

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I visited my Mom’s house tonight and part of the evening was a spring garden tour. I’ve never seen so many daffodils! What a beautiful sight! They must have thousands in their yard, with almost a dozen varieties.

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The month of April is sure living up to its name as far as rainfall, but my inner gardener rejoices in this because I don’t have to haul watering cans all over the yard. This was the easiest (cool veggie) seed-starting weather ever!

This morning we got up unusually early (before 8:00 am – wow!) and started the day loading the pickup truck with metal recycling. We like to do the most errands possible on a truck run, so we managed to get rid of junk, pick up a load of free compost and mulch at the Compost Dump, eat lunch, plus stop at Menard’s for carpet tack strip… all with Benji along too!

The carpet project was easy and ended with AMAZING results. We finished the edge of the hallway laminate flooring in the 2 bedroom doorways, then measured and cut tack strip for both transitions. It was super-simple to install, and using a handy instructional flooring book, we followed the directions to cut the bedroom carpeting to the proper length and tucked it in to the appropriate crevice. Voila! Beautiful carpet transitions on both bedrooms, and one step closer to actually installing bedroom doors. (The office transition will have to wait until we have access to a 4″ circular saw again.)

After that was over, we were ready to work outside again. (Just some minor sprinkles…) Ryan shoveled compost onto the garden straight from the truck while I planted 4 more patches of day lilies dug up from the well area. (There are still more left! It’s unproven, but I think they are multiplying in the bucket.) We ended the day by spreading mulch over several flower beds.

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On Friday, I used a half-day of vacation to get some yard work done. I started with the day lilies around the well. They were so full of grass roots that the little lilies had no room to grow. (I touched on this in the last post.) Below are middle and after photos.

After that was done, I began work on the rose bed. On the way home from work I purchased one more rose to have a total of 5. They are a variety of colors: Peach, Lavender, Red, White, and Yellow. After an amazing rebate, they were only $.50 each! We’ll see how they do. At that price, if we only enjoy them for a summer or two, it’ll be okay.

I moved the sod to the back yard to even-off a sunken trench leading to the new mound system. It was 5 wheel barrow loads – hard work! I tilled compost into the bed and added rose food to each hole as directed. We’re both looking forward to the first blooms!

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Mom came over last night with an amazing roasted veggie pasta topping – yum! We started off the gardening season with the best reason for having a garden… fresh veggies.

Together we planted spinach, lettuce, radishes, onions, and garlic. She showed me how she mixes the lettuce seeds with corn meal to help evenly disperse them. We watered everything thoroughly last night and again this morning, and with a 70 degree sunny day, the little seeds should be off to a good start. We’ll see!

Mom pointed out how the day lilies around the well pump are in need of help. We dug up big clumps of them and pulled out grass roots and weeds while separating the little bulbs from each other. She was right – they were packed really tight and showed stunted growth. I’ll finish that job tonight.

A few weeks ago Ryan brought home 4 rose bushes for us. I was afraid to put them out too soon, but I learned that they need to get in the ground ASAP! They are bursting with new growth already – very cool. Add “create rose bed” to the list!

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In addition to the day lilies, did I forget to mention that we also received a beautiful bucket of ivy from a family friend? And we fly out tomorrow. Yeah, got that planted too. They’re pretty fresh cuttings… I hope they make it!

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We fly out tomorrow. Out-of-the-country out. But when someone offers FREE PERNNIALS, I just can’t say no!

Ryan and I loaded up my entire car (did I say ENTIRE) with day lilies from a co-worker. They filled my trunk, covered the rear folded-down seats, filled my passenger seat and floor. The car was so packed that plants were touching me from the back and the right as I drove. I sure wish I had a photo of that!

So, 12 buckets of day-lilies and today is the only day we have to get them in the ground. Here we go!

We dug out the not-so-attractive bush that was planted in front of the well, along with a circle of grass. Filled the area with compost and dropped in several day lily plants.

After that, we planted them around the yard in various sunny beds. Can’t wait to see them next year! Whew, can’t believe we got them all in! Now, where’s my passport?

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So… there has been a terribly overgrown honeysuckle living against the house which had grown so large it was taking over 3/4 of the sidewalk, requiring passers-by to walk on the lawn to get to the front door. I went at it with rage, calming down enough in the process to allow a few leaves to remain.